Despite the failure of his unfair dismissal claim, the tribunal still awarded Sam Murphy £680 compensation because his employer DTAL Ltd had failed to provide him with a contract – something which might have prevented the disagreement at the heart of the dispute, the tribunal’s deputy chair Advocate Fraser Robertson noted.
Mr Murphy claimed that he had been unfairly dismissed, was due holiday pay, and had received no pay slips, apart from not having been given a contract to set out the terms of his employment.
But the tribunal accepted the evidence of Dave Torpy, representing the company, who explained that having initially offered Mr Murphy work as a sub-contractor, they had instead given him a six-month contact with holidays because he was unable as a self-employed person to pay his social security and tax costs.
This was consistent with WhatsApp exchanges between the two men in June 2022 which clearly referred to a six-month contract at a rate of £15 per hour, Advocate Robertson said.
Mr Murphy subsequently accepted that he had received a loan of £3,200 from the company to buy a motorcycle which was to be offset in part by money otherwise due as holiday pay
Summarising the tribunal’s decision, Advocate Robertson said: “The respondent’s evidence is to be preferred based on its consistency with the written evidence. The tribunal thus finds that there was a six-month fixed term contract which expired on 20 December 2022.
“The respondent accepted that it had never provided the claimant with a copy of the contract until the extension was offered on or about 16 December 2022.
“Had a written contract been provided at the outset of employment, it is likely that one of the main issues in this case as to the nature of the employment may not have arisen.
“That compensation shall be one week’s pay…The claimant’s claims for unpaid notice pay and unpaid holiday pay are dismissed. No compensation is awarded for a failure to provide itemised pay statements.
“The respondent shall however pay to the claimant…compensation in the sum of £680 for failure to provide written terms of employment,” he said.